Advanced Biobanking and Biotechnology

Blood Banking and Donation

Blood banking is the process that takes location in a laboratory to make sure that the donated blood or blood products are protected before they are used in blood transfusions and other scientific procedures. Blood banking consists of typing the blood for compatibility and trying out for infectious diseases.

Facts about blood banking:

• About 38,000 units of ruddy blood cells are required each day (2006)
• There are around 9.5 million volunteer blood givers (2006)
• Five million patients get transfusions of blood units each year (2006)
• Each unit of blood is broken down into components, such as ruddy blood cells, plasma, and platelets.